In the expectant eyes of Liu Kongzhao and Zhu Guobi, Qian Qianyi said: "Your Majesty has only two ways to arrest you and punish you."
“First, three judicial departments will be set up to convict and sentence after public trials.”
"The second is to order the Jinyiwei to quietly arrest him, put him in the imperial prison, interrogate him, and convict him after that."
"The three judicial departments have not yet been established, so you two don't have to worry about being publicly tried. The only thing you have to worry about is the Royal Guards."
Liu Kongzhao and Zhu Guobi nodded at the same time, "That's right!"
"To be honest, I have some connections in the Nanjing Jinyiwei. If they want to arrest you two, I will get the news first."
"By then, you two only need to prepare in advance, and you can live in peace."
Liu Kongzhao raised his eyebrows: "Prepare? What preparations?"
Qian Qianyi smiled and said, "Of course, be prepared to fight... or flee!"
Liu Kongzhao immediately shook his head: "Escape is impossible. Unless you escape from the Ming Dynasty, you will die sooner or later."
No one noticed that although Liu Kongzhao's tone was firm when he said this, his eyes were flickering.
"Yes, we can't run away." Zhu Guobi, Marquis of Funing, responded: "The only way to survive is to fight to the death."
Qian Qianyi said calmly: "Since you two have made up your minds, I will take my leave."
"Wait a minute," Liu Kongzhao said somewhat displeasedly, "Mr. Qian seemed to have said a lot, but he didn't say anything useful at all."
"What else does Lord Liu want to know?"
"I want to know what we should do if His Majesty really sends the Royal Guards to arrest people?"
Qian Qianyi said calmly: "The Nanjing Jinyiwei has no more than a thousand men, while Lord Liu has nearly 20,000 soldiers. Can you still not defeat them?"
"I do have soldiers, but I only have the power to command them, not to mobilize them. Also...if we go to war with the Royal Guards, it will be the same as going to war with His Majesty. It will be difficult for us to succeed on our own. I would like to ask if Mr. Qian can help, and how?"
"Don't worry," Qian Qianyi pointed at Ma Shiying, "The Nanjing Counselor is here. He has the power to mobilize troops, and you have the power to command them. As long as you need them, we will immediately dispatch troops to you. As for the war with His Majesty, we have to wait for the decision of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Crown Prince?" Liu Kongzhao was very skeptical: "Will the Crown Prince rebel against his father?"
Qian Qianyi swore: "Your Majesty has already intended to depose the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince has been regent for a long time and has long been accustomed to the days of being high and mighty. How could he sit back and watch being deposed?"
Seeing Qian Qianyi's sincerity, Liu Kongzhao was skeptical but had no choice but to give up.
He clasped his hands towards Qian Qianyi, then stood up and left.
After Liu Kongzhao walked away, Ma Shiying asked, "Mr. Qian, are we really going to rebel with them?"
"Rebellion?" Qian Qianyi glared at him, "What rebellion?"
Why?
Qian Qianyi's words simply stunned Ma Shiying.
He lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Qian, didn't you just promise to give Liu Kongzhao and the others military power?"
Qian Qianyi sat upright and said: "Giving them military power does not mean rebellion. Besides... those words were just spoken casually, don't take them seriously."
Ma Shiying said worriedly: "But once Liu Kongzhao and his men fall, Zheng Zhilong will be fighting alone. After all, he has committed a capital crime."
Qian Qianyi said earnestly: "I have been thinking about this for a long time recently. Zheng Zhilong is indeed very important, but compared with the crown prince, he is not worth mentioning at all. Unless your majesty has a clear order to depose the crown prince, we must not rebel."
"As for Zheng Zhilong... there is no need to worry too much. The Jinyiwei in Fujian alone cannot touch him. If you want to touch Zheng Zhilong, you will need at least tens of thousands of elite soldiers. The troops that the court can mobilize are all in Liaodong. It won't be too late to think of a way when they return to the interior."
Ma Shiying seemed to understand, but also seemed not to understand.
He wanted to continue asking, but Qian Qianyi had already stood up and prepared to leave.
Ma Shiying had no choice but to get up and leave.
Qian Qianyi's words today had only one purpose: to stabilize the Donglin Party, Liu Kongzhao, Zhu Guobi and others.
Afraid that they would do something extreme ahead of time.
As long as the prince still had a glimmer of hope to inherit the throne, he would not support the rebellion.
This is not just a matter of reputation, but also concerns the fate of the entire clan.
Even if Chongzhen really wanted to depose the crown prince, it would be impossible unless the crown prince had more than 70% chance of winning.
Otherwise he still would not support the rebellion.
Where does the chance of winning come from?
One is to have enough soldiers and horses.
If there is a real rebellion, Jiangnan can mobilize three armies.
The first was the Jingying in Nanjing, and the second was Zheng Zhilong in Fujian.
Finally, there was Dorgon who fled to Korea.
These troops seemed to be a lot, but Qian Qianyi always felt that they were not enough.
If you want to win a battle, you need not only soldiers and horses but also the support of the people.
Now the people are leaning towards the Beijing court rather than the Nanjing court.
If a war really breaks out, the Southern court, which has no support from the people, will undoubtedly be defeated.
This is also his concern.
Qian Qianyi's concerns were also Chongzhen's concerns.
Qian Qianyi was afraid that he had no chance of winning, and Chongzhen was afraid that he had not created a situation in which Qian Qianyi was sure to win.
Why did Chongzhen pretend to be sick?
Because he wants to take action against Jiangnan.
The word "take action" here has two meanings.
First is killing, then stealing money.
If you want to kill someone, you need evidence.
The existing evidence can only convict Zheng Zhilong of smuggling and collaborating with the enemy, and Zhu Guobi of privately minting Ming Yuanbao coins.
However, it was impossible to convict Qian Qianyi and other Donglin Party members.
In order to convict them, Chongzhen had to resort to a big trick.
He spared Dorgon's life, which made the gentry in Jiangnan feel that Chongzhen's power was not dominated by one person.
Then they forced Zheng Zhilong, Liu Kongzhao, Zhu Guobi and others to rebel...
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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